Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Stock Price Down 4% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell about 4% to $11.18 on Monday (volume ~33% below average); analysts' consensus rating is Hold with a $19 consensus target, though individual targets vary widely (from about $8 to prior $26 calls).
• Marathon posted a heavy earnings miss for the quarter (EPS -$4.52 vs. -$0.23 expected) and revenue of $202.3M vs. $250.7M expected, with negative margins and a sell-side forecast of -$0.79 EPS for the year.
• Insiders executed sizable sales (including the GC and CEO under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans) and insiders own just ~0.8% of shares, while the stock shows high volatility (beta ~5.29), signaling elevated risk for investors.

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) traded down 4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $11.09 and last traded at $11.18. 31,395,522 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 46,955,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Marathon Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Marathon Digital from $26.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Marathon Digital from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.00.

Marathon Digital Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.36. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of -2.82 and a beta of 5.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported ($4.52) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($4.29). The firm had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $250.74 million. Marathon Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.01% and a negative net margin of 144.58%.Marathon Digital's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Digital

In other news, General Counsel Zabi Nowaid sold 42,090 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $505,080.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 1,007,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,084,564. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.68, for a total value of $321,258.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,725,219 shares in the company, valued at $55,190,557.92. This trade represents a 0.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 172,605 shares of company stock valued at $1,745,843 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Digital

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Marathon Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,368,000. Sara Bay Financial lifted its stake in Marathon Digital by 131.2% in the 1st quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 62,730 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 35,600 shares in the last quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Marathon Digital by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.53% of the company's stock.

Marathon Digital Company Profile

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc is a digital asset technology company specializing in the mining and acquisition of bitcoin. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, the firm employs high-performance application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners and proprietary software to secure the Bitcoin network and expand its crypto-mining footprint. Marathon Digital focuses on operational efficiency and scalability, while maintaining rigorous standards for regulatory compliance and corporate governance.

The company operates multiple large-scale mining facilities throughout North America, including sites in Texas, Montana and New York.

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